AZORES | Psychiatric Service carried out more than 200 consultations within Regional Health Service

The Psychiatric Service has already carried out more than 200 consultations at the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital in Ponta Delgada.

The need to create a format that would broaden the range of consultations available had been identified and was met by the action of the Azores Mental Health Structure.

On the first weekend of November, four psychiatrists carried out consultations at the São Miguel Island hospital on Saturday and Sunday, so as not to interfere with regular operations on working days.

This initiative is primarily intended to significantly reduce the waiting list over the next two years, which currently stands at around one thousand patients.

In this type of consultation buffer that has been set up with the Psychiatric Services, doctors make an initial assessment and patients who do not require follow-up by the specialty are referred back to Primary Health Care. In other cases, it will be necessary to continue follow-up by the Psychiatric Services.

“This action proved to be an outstanding success and will take place every weekend in November,” Mónica Seidi said, adding that “the same will also happen on the first weekend of December.”

The government official highlighted “the collaboration of FLAD, which, under the protocol the Azores Mental Health Structure, has managed, with its coordinator, Dr. Henrique Prata Ribeiro, to provide a total of six psychiatrists for this initiative.”

The Regional Secretary for Health and Sport also admitted that she believes “this is a very effective way of diagnosing our patients, which will speed up medical action and referral to the psychiatry speciality, thus multiplying its effectiveness.”

GRA/RÁDIOILHÉU